Garment



Dec. 7, 19 13. M @OLLE 2,335,971

GARMENT: F

ma Au'g. 5.1942

IN VEN TOR.

Patented Dec. 7, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GARMENT Maud Scholle, New York, N. Y.

Application August 5, 1942, Serial No. 453,617

1 Claim.

This invention relates to garments, such as slacks or skirts, in which the circumferential waistline of said garment is required to be expanded in order to don or doff the garment.

At the present time, it is not possible to obtain metallic zippers for opening or closing a scam in the garment, nor are elastic tapes, whereby the circumferential waistline could be temporarily expanded, available.

The main object and feature of this invention is to provide means whereby the circumferential waistline of a garment can be expanded without the necessity of using zippers or elastic tape and which, at the same time, will enable the garment to present a smooth and neat appearance at the waistline and, in the case of a skirt, without appreciably distorting the hang thereof,

In the accompanying drawing, the invention is disclosed in a concrete and preferred form in which:

Fig. 1 is a front view of a garment shown slightly in perspective at the upper end thereof, with the parts adjusted and secured to bring the circumferential waistline of the garment into contracted position;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view, substantially on the plane of line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view of the upper portion of Fig. 1 on an enlarged scale, showing the circumferential waistline expanded;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary detail view, looking in the direction of arrow 4 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 3, showing the circumferential waistline of the garment contracted but before the parts have been secured together in the contracted position.

The skirt shown as an illustration of the invention is composed of a number of vertical sections, here, for convenience, referred to as front section I and rear section 2. It will be understood that said sections may each be composed of a number of panels, in a manner Well understood in the art. Said front and rear sections are united lengthwise by means of vertical seams 3 at opposite sides of the figure. Seams 3 extend only part way of the sections, so that the portions 4 and 5 of said sections that are adjacent to the waistline 6 are free. The front section is provided with circumferential guide openings 1 at opposite sides of the figure, adjacent said waistline. 8 indicates two opposite tabs on the rear section, adjacent said waistline, that extend circumferentially forward over the front section and to be secured in variably overlapped relation across the front section as by means of buttons and buttonholes 9 and II). It will be understood that it is not necessary to completely overlap the tabs as shown in Fig. 1, but that it is possible to have the outermost buttonhole of one tab engage say the center button of the other tab, and that this can be done without marring the appearance of the garment at the circumferential waistline. ll indicates two flexible draw members, which can be and here are of non-elastic material, that are complementary to said tabs 8 and the side guide openings 1 and through which latter they extend, Each of said members H is anchored at one end l2 on the rear section and at its other end [3 near the free end M of the tab that is complementary to said draw member. That draw member I l which is connected to the tab that carries buttonholes i0 is correspondingly provided with buttonholes I5 so that buttons 9 on the other tab 8 pass through buttonholes l5 and II].

It will now be understood that when the buttons and buttonholes 9, I0 and I5 are disengaged, the waistline of the garment can be expanded by slidably adjusting sections l and 2 and draw members II with respect to each other so as to sufficiently expand the waistline of the garment to enable the wearer either to step into the garment or to slip it over the head and that, when the garment has been thus donned, tabs 8 can be grasped and brought into overlapping relation, thereby drawing sections 1 and 2, equally in opposite directions, from the position shown in Fi 3 to the position shown in Fig. 5, after which the buttons and buttonholes 9, l0 and I5 can be engaged to hold the garment in its adjusted position, as shown in Fig. 1. It will also be observed that this invention is useful where the figure of a person varies, as in maternity cases.

It has been found, notwithstanding that tabs 8 may be brought into variably overlapped relation at the waistline, that the hang of the skirt, as a whole, is not appreciably affected.

I claim:

In a garment composed of a plurality of vertical sections, means for varying the circumferential waistline of said garment including: a front section and a rear section said sections being united lengthwise partway at opposite sides of the figure and being free at the portions of said sections that are adjacent said waistline, said front section having circumferentially extending guide openings at opposite sides of the figure adjacent said waistline, opposed tabs on the rear section adjacent said waistline extending circumferentially forward over the front section to be secured in variably overlapped relation across the front section, two flexible draw members complementary to said tabs and extending through said guide openings, each member anchored at one end on the rear section and at its other end near the free end of the tab that is complementary to a draw member, whereby the upper portions of the sections can be drawn circumferentially around the figure in opposite directions to a variable extent.

MAUD SCHOLLE. 

